Wed 20th September 7.30 Quaker Meeting House, 10, St James Street, Sheffield S1 2EW

Cyclists in Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Sheffield and elsewhere are getting ready for the Big ride for Palestine from Liverpool to Sheffield. You can cycle all the way from Liverpool, join the ride in Meadowhall (Barrow Road 4pm Sunday 6th August) or Join Lord Mayor and Louise Haigh MP to welcome the riders into Sheffield 5pm Sunday 6th August Sheffield town hall steps. 

Lord Mayor Anne Murphy started the Small Park Big Run Saturday 10th June at 12 noon.

It took  place Meersbrook Park and continued through the night.

More Pictures are here.

On Saturday 20th May there was a strong protest

We were joined by the Sheffield Samba Band.  They helped draw an interested crowd.

Exeter University Students’ Guild has found that Malaka  Swaikh has done nothing to bring the charity into disrepute.  Her statement is here .  The Guild statement is here.

While this is good news we feel more pressure is needed before we get a retraction of the misinformation from the Mail on line..

The Mail Online, an offshoot of the Daily Mail,  along with a some other on-line publications and abusive emails fanned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, are currently alleging that Malaka, presently a Ph.D. student at Exeter University, under the supervision of the Israeli born Professor Ilan Pappe, is a supporter of terrorism and is antisemitic. Why, some might wonder, but clearly not the Mail or the Campaign Against Antisemtism, would an anti-Semite choose to study under a Jewish professor?  There is clearly more to this story than what Malaka’s detractors would like people to believe.

The Mail Online launched the campaign against Malaka, stating in bold letters: ‘Palestinian student, 25, tweets “I am so proud to be called a terrorist’ sparking an anti-Semitism investigation at the University of Exeter.”  The tweet, which had been hacked, was doctored. The full sentence reads:  “If terrorism means protecting and defending my land, I am so proud to be called terrorist. What an honour for the Palestinians!” Moreover, this was said in the context of Israel’s 2014 bloody onslaught on Gaza.  A reference by her to the Holocaust was similarly distorted by not reporting her tweet stating that it was a horrific crime.

But the full malevolence of distorting her tweets in order to suggest that their author is not only a terrorist sympathiser but an anti-Semite only becomes evident in the light of Malaka’s political

activism.   As well as being a proud Palestinian committed to justice for her people, she is also a principled opponent of all forms of racism. She recently helped to organise a march at Exeter University to protest against swastikas and ‘Rights for Whites’ slogans daubed on walls in halls of residence.

The attack on Malaka is part of a coordinated attempt to discredit pro-Palestinian campaigners. Malaka, herself, had been subjected to earlier smear campaigns when she was a student at Sheffield University. As Israel has become increasingly rightwing and xenophobic, feted by white supremacists and Islamophobes,  its supporters desperately seek to regain public sympathy by accusing its critics of anti-Semitism and terrorist sympathies. It will not work.  Israel’s record is there for all to see and Palestinian activists and the solidarity movement will continue to grow in numbers and in effectiveness as they have over the past three decades.

We, in Sheffield, know Malaka well from the period that she spent in the city as a student. We condemn her vilification and fully support her stand against it.

Read Malaka’s full statement, read Mondoweiss article here: https://goo.gl/1XrB4k

Some of the people who joined the protest today.  On UN Human Rights Day we wished to point out that Israel is engaged on a further land grab in Hebron.  This and similar are illegal under International law.  The UK Government, accepts that these land grabs are illegal but has a policy of business as usual with the Apartheid State.